Interested and Arrogant
by Leens
Summary: Trory. Starts at Season 1 Finale, and we'll see from there..
1. Chapter 1

The story starts at LD&T, done my way. It's a Trory, because, well, CMM is so damn hot.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, including the song Liar (it takes one to know one) by Taking Back Sunday in which the title was taken from.

Hope you like it :D

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"Very nice Max, but we're not eight..." Lorelai smirked while walking across the street to Miss Patty's. The girls let Max walk in front of them.

"What ya got?" Asked the elder Lorelai in a hushed tone.

"Grape. Yours?' Rory eagerly replied.

"Red."

"Trade ya!"

"Yessss!" Max laughed inwardly at their antics, but loved it none the less.

The three walked in as the crowd was exploding due to Taylor's craziness. "All those in favor?" he announced. No one moved a muscle, other than those whom were late.

"Aww shucks, it already started!" Lorelai groaned looking around for seats.

"All those opposed?" The entire room raised their hands, and after seeing this, Lorelai did too, much to Taylor's disgust. They found seats together in the third row.

The town troubadour stepped up and was pleading his case to Taylor to be the only troubadour of Stars Hallow. He was not getting any leniency from Taylor. "This is a money making scheme, why else would he be doing it?"

Rory had enough decided to step up and give it a shot herself. "Because sometimes you have something you need to say, but you can't because the words won't come out, or you get scared, or you feel stupid. So if you could write a song, and sing it, then you could say what you need to say, and it would be beautiful, and people would listen and you wouldn't make a complete idiot out of yourself, but not all of us can be songwriters so some of us will never be able to say what we're thinking, or what we want other people to know what we're thinking, so we'll never get the chance to make things right again. Ever."

The entire room was silent, staring at Rory, including Dean. She noticed and her mind went into overdrive. 'Oh no! I can't believe I said all of that out loud. In front of everyone, no less. _At least __**he**__ wasn't here to witness it._ But Dean was! He must think I'm talking about him; Clara must have told him that I stopped by the house. Those two things together make me look desperate! Damn it, Gilmore, how am I going to get myself out of this one? He's looking at me like he thinks we have another shot… Now the whole town is going to assume I'm still hung up on Dean and want him back. When that's the farthest from the truth… Aww crap. I should bring it back to the troubadour.' "So give this guy a license."

The room, while still in shock, applauded Rory. Taylor seeing this as their approval of the man, "I don't want to waste anymore time on this and I make this … mystique guy the official town troubadour. And no other troubadour may you serve his territory, meaning.. this other guy."

After this, the meeting broke up and everyone went their separate ways home. Well, except Dean. Rory noticed he was slow to get up and was staring intently at her, so she quickly told her mom and Max to take their time and she'd meet them at home later tonight and brushed past everyone to get out as fast as possible. Once out the doors, ran across the lawn as fast as she could home, and Dean just watched her go with a confused look on his face. 'After that I thought I'd walk her home and we'd pick up right where we left off. I mean she loves me now, she said so in her speech. I even sent Clara home with Mrs. Mooney. I guess I'll just surprise her tomorrow.'

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Grateful he didn't follow her home, Rory striped and went straight into the shower, her special place to relax and stop her mind from reaching insanity. She washed away his stares and the hopefulness she saw in his eyes when she dared look. The only eyes she wanted to think about were icy blue, along with his tousled blonde hair, tanned skin, and athletic physique that she knew he had from all the times he'd pushed up against her or caused them to bump into each other in the hallway. Once she started picturing him shirtless with his pecs and abs so well defined, Rory, being the Mary she truly is snapped her eyes open and scolded herself for thinking about him in such a way. 'What am I doing! I can't stand him, always picking on me and making crude remarks. _Some of which you wouldn't mind trying out with him._ No way! No way, Gilmore.' With that Rory turned off the shower and quickly went to bed before her mom could come home and question her about the speech. Rory wasn't ready to explain herself quite yet.

Lorelai was disappointed to find her daughter fast asleep when she got home, but understood that she must be under a lot of stress, both from school and her outburst that night not realizing how closely they were connected, and let her sleep. 'I'll just get her in the morning,' Lorelai thought before she and Max headed up to bed.

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Rory had different plans. She was up and ready to leave her house at six in the morning, with an overnight bag packed to stay at her grandparents for a few days. She couldn't face her mother, or the town, or Dean, until it all blew over and another juicy piece of gossip was swirling around the small town. Rory left a note explaining her plans and told Lorelai not to worry and that she'd call later that night. Rory left the house without making a sound and headed to Luke's to get as much coffee as he'd give her before the 6:20 bus rolled into town.

"Rory! What are you doing here so early? You do know its 6:05, right? Your mother didn't play with all your clocks again did she? I really need to have a talk with her, she's making you miss sleep! Sleep that you need so your brain can recuperate! I'm going to call her right now! You just go upstairs and sleep a little and I'll come get you in an hour." Luke ranted practically pushing her up the stairs into his apartment.

"No no no, Luke! I'm up this early on my own. I wanted to get out before anyone saw me and asked me questions about last night..." Rory explained with an embarrassed expression and the blush to match. "I'm not looking forward to that.." she trailed off again.

"Say no more." Luke understood. "What would you like for breakfast. Anything you want. And as much coffee as necessary."

With that last statement Rory couldn't stop herself from capturing Luke in an affectionate hug. "You're the best, Luke. And I'll have a cherry Danish now and a cup of coffee, and then another Danish to go, along with 4 to-go cups." She added with a smirk. Luke shook his head as he walked away and poured her her first cup. "And could you pack me a lunch? I have a feeling I'm going to need some of your food as my day goes on."

Rory was Luke's only customer that early in the morning, so they talked and she explained to him what she meant with her speech. Well, somewhat. "It had nothing to do with Dean. But I understand how people could get confused because I haven't told ANYONE, not even Lane or my mother, about Tristan and how he could possibly be more than the annoying kid that won't give up. But that's one of the things I really like about him, and I'm dreading the day he finally does throw in the towel… I don't want to give up what we have going on, but I also don't want to change things and then have it end badly. You know what I mean?" Rory looked up at him searching for a reaction on his face.

'Oh I know exactly what you mean, kid.' "Yeah, but if you don't try, you'll always regret it…" 'I know I am.' Luke added in his head. "Rory! Its 6:19, you better get out there before you miss the bus and have to face the nutcases around here!" Luke informed while giving her her to-go coffees and Danish, and slipping her lunch into her big yellow backpack. She gave him a quick thanks and started to walk out, then turned around with scared look on her face. "Don't worry, Rory, your secret is safe with me. Just don't want too long to do something about T."

"THANKS LUKE!" Rory yelled while jogging to the bus stop and boarded the bus just as Lorelai was opening her daughter's door to wake her up for the day. When she found no daughter in the house, Lorelai started to panic just as the phone rang. "Rory?!"

"Nah, Lorelai. Its Luke. I just wanted to let you know that Rory just left, and she's fine, and she's going to school early today. She didn't want to face the crowds this morning and their non stop questions that were bound to be directed at her. I fed her, gave her coffee, as well as a packed lunch, and watched her get onto the bus headed towards Hartford." Lorelai finally let go to the breath she was holding as Luke finished what he was explaining. "She told me she left you a note on Larry, whatever that means, in case you came looking for her." Lorelai walked over to the coffee maker the girls lovingly named Larry last Christmas, and read the short note from her daughter. Once Luke heard her soft sobs, he hung up the phone and got to the Gilmore house in less than two minutes. "She's alright..." he cooed, stroking her hair and letting her cry on his shoulder. "We talked and I think she's going to be just fine. She's just a little confused and needs to figure things out on her own," Luke said trying to calm Lorelai down.

"But why didn't she come to _me_? I'm supposed to be her best friend. Why does she want to go to _them_?" Lorelai cried, not caring what the answer was.

But Luke tried anyways. "Because they don't know what we do. They don't know the situation and they can't press her on it. They will never guess what its really about. They didn't hear the speech, they don't know what caused her to say it, they don't know anything about any of it, except possibly her break up with Dean in the first place. She just needs to get away from the vultures here, and work through it. On her own. With a little advise when asked for it."

"When'd you become so good at this?" Lorelai looked up at her friend with new eyes, eyes that saw more than just the grumpy Luke that fed her every day. She saw potential.

"I always was. You just never needed it. And she never opened up to me like she did this morning." He saw her eyes perk up with his last statement and quickly added, "but I can't tell you any of that. I promised." Luke gave her one last squeeze and walked out the front door walking past Dean on the front lawn. "She's not in there," Luke said nonchalantly and kept on his way. Rory didn't want Dean. She knew it, Luke knew it, and pretty soon he would too.

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So whatcha think :/


	2. Chapter 2

Here is my second installment. Hope you like.. It's shorter but gets to the point.

Disclaimer: I own NADA, but I do love GG and TBS mucho.

Oh and I'm a stickler for grammar; if there are any mistakes, PLEASE let me know. THANKS!

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'The day's not _so_ bad. Sure when I saw Tristan I stopped breathing. But he didn't say anything to me and my breathing returned to normal when he turned the corner. I hope he didn't notice… And Paris is could be worse. She's still upset over the PJ Harvey debacle but I'm not going, _at least I don't think I am_. And its not as if Tristan is her boyfriend. They tried. Why can't it be my turn? Because he's the King of Chilton, and has no respect for me, and … I can't think of another reason. He **is** really, really cute. Damn it, Gilmore! Snap out of it!'

"Daydreaming about me, Mary?" Tristan smirked as he slid up to Rory, invading her personal space. He was close enough for her to smell his cologne even though most of the day had already past. She closed her eyes savoring the moment, but then realized where she was and whom she was, in fact, with.

'It was as if he could read my thoughts…' "Of course. We were making out in the backseat of your Benz and then I puked, because you disgust me that much."

"At least I got you in my backseat, and I don't remember you puking the last time…" 'But she did run away crying. I'll never live that down. Even if only she and I know.'

"Not that you saw," Rory added with a glare.

"Touché, Gilmore. Touché." Tristan raised his arms in defeat and Rory grinned at him knowing that she had won.

"Walk me to class, DuGrey?" She had no idea where that came from, and neither did he seeing the look of shock on his face, but recovered quickly.

"Of course, Mar. Anything for you." She scoffed thinking he was just feeding her one of his lines, while he knew he spoke the complete truth.

Tristan could not pay attention in class because his mind was trying to analyze what had made his Mary ask him to walk her to class. That had never happened before, and he saw it as an open invitation for more. 'If she wants to be around me, which she must because well, I am Tristan DuGrey, but she's never cared about that before, or treated me any different because of my last name. She could care less about my social standing seeing as she was with that fucking bag boy. Are they still apart? She hasn't said anything to the contrary, and she would tell me seeing as we're trying out this 'friends' thing, even though being friends with Rory Gilmore is not what I have been aiming for. The concert is tonight. I almost forgot all about that! She must want to go with me now. Or she wouldn't be being so nice to me, if you could call that nice. Or maybe she has no idea what she's doing, seeing as she is the most oblivious girl I've met when it comes to the opposite sex. I really should find out. But don't be an asshole about it DuGrey, or at least say please.' The bell was about to ring any minute and Tristan had to be ready to go so he could meet Rory outside and finalize their plans.

"Are we meeting there or what?" 'Ugh, way to start out, DuGrey.'

"What are you talking about?!"

"I'm getting tired of this game. The concert is tonight.."

"Ohhhhh.. Well, um…" 'Why can't I just say yes, I want to go with Tristan!'

'Damn.. she doesn't want to go. She won't even say it.' "I'm getting a little irritated with this. Just give me an answer!"

His forceful voice shook Rory and she had even more trouble speaking, stumbling over ever syllable. "W-w-well, I, I do-don't k-kn-know wh-what…"

"Whatever! I don't even know anyone who is into this guy!"

"PJ Harvey is a woman!" 'That I can say?! Jeez Gilmore..'

With that Tristan grabbed her books, and Rory freaked. "Give them back!!" 'My journal is in there! He can't see that!'

"I will when you agree to go with me." 'She really doesn't want me to have these in my possession. I wonder why. She's staring at one in the middle. Hmm, I'll have to figure out what's in there later.'

Tristan started walking towards his car with her books knowing that Rory was following him, but she still had to go to her locker and get all her stuff for her stay in Hartford. She didn't want him to leave without her, with her diary in his hands. That could be disastrous. "Tristan!! Wait!! Would you come with me to my locker then drive me to my grandparents, and then I promise I will go to the concert with you."

"Don't do me any favors, Gilmore." Tristan added angrily thinking that she was only saying she'd go with him to get her books back. He was wrong.

"Please Tristan? I really want to go to the concert. I really want to go with you. I was just too stubborn to say anything. And I really need a ride to my grandparents, or to your house, whichever. Just I need a ride out of here. Preferably from you."

"Are you positive? Not pulling the wool over my eyes just to ditch me at the last possible moment?" He asked sounding extremely vulnerable; something not allowed from a DuGrey so she knew what she was doing what right.

"Of course. I'm going to have you drive me there, fake a sickness, end up stealing your wallet and car, and all of your clothes of course, leaving you naked at the Meadows wishing you had never crossed me," she stated in a serious tone, but her eyes gave her away. He smiled at her, and she smiled back, and they headed across the quad to get to the building with her locker.

Dean and his truck where parked in the quad waiting for Rory to walk by on her way home. But he didn't expect her to be walking with Tristan, him holding her books, and seeing them get along so well.

"Dean…"

"What the hell are you doing with him, Rory?!" He was seething with anger.

"I'm going to my locker. Then going to Tristan's. Why should you care Dean? It's not like we're together anymore! You broke up with me, REMEMBER?!" Tristan stood back and watched Rory go off on Dean, enjoying it much more than he should have.

"But your speech last night. You said you loved me! That you couldn't say it, but you felt it!" Tristan's ears perked up upon hearing this piece of information wanting to know if it was true.

"I wasn't talking about you, dumbass! Did I once say, 'Dean I feel it'? Huh?"

"No…"

"Did I say 'Dean, I'm sorry that I couldn't say that I loved you before, but I'm ready now'?" Her voice had reached an angry and sarcastic tone that no one, including her best sparring partner, had heard before.

"No…" Dean couldn't look her in the eye, afraid of what he'd see.

"Right answer. Now go home! No one wants you here!"

"Then who were you talking about?" He couldn't take it anymore. Then Dean finally realized. "You were talking about _him_?!" He yelled pointing to Tristan. The temper he usually kept bottled up around Rory was exposed for all to witness.

"So what if I was? It has nothing to do with you Dean. Just go!"

Dean wouldn't move away, he instead kept getting closer and closer to Rory. Once he grabbed her wrists, much to her protests and efforts to shake him off, Tristan couldn't stifle to urge to come to her aid. He felt the need to step in and protect his Mary. "You heard her, get out of here Bag Boy!" Tristan yelled while prying Dean's hands off of Rory's quickly bruising wrists.

"What are you going to do to make me, accountant?" Dean refused to back down.

Out of nowhere, Nick, Tristan's best friend socked Dean in the stomach and then laid an uppercut into his cheekbone causing a laceration. "That's what I'm going to do, you jackass!"

"Get the fuck out of here, Dean!" Rory was screaming at him, not caring that he was on the ground bleeding, but the fact that he was still there. She got fed up, grabbed Tristan's hand and stepped over Dean's body. They stopped at her locker grabbing her duffle and backpack and quickly walked to Tristan's black Mercedes hard top convertible. He threw her stuff into the backseat as she climbed into the passenger side. She was still fuming but Tristan didn't care as long as Rory was with him, not Dean.

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	3. Chapter 3

I have a paper to write, that's due in two days, that I haven't started it. And I'm doing this. Oh boy.

Disclaimer: Same as the previous chapters.. durr.

And if you think I should change something, let me know! I like new ideas!

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'So she made a speech last night. Apparently it had something to do with not being able to get feelings across even though she really really wanted to tell the person. And Dean had thought it had been about him. And when she shot down that idea, Dean said it had been about _me_. I would like nothing more than to know that she was actually talking about me, knowing that she had feelings for me but didn't know what to do about them. I'll just have to take things into my own hands. But she hadn't actually said it was about me. Mary didn't say _Yes, Dean! I was talking about Tristan! Duh!_ She had said _So what if I was?_ So she could have just been trying to get a rise out of him, and damn, it worked. _When did I become such a girl! Get a grip, DuGrey._' Tristan looked over at Rory, and noticed that she was as into her thoughts as he was.

'Fuck! Why did Dean have to show up at Chilton! I never once looked at him last night, or said his name. Why did he have to ruin my moment with Tristan! _Was that really a moment? He probably won't want to go with me to the concert because of all this drama. Damn you, Dean!_ And how could he let it out that I had said all those things last night, and the fact that I had said them about Tristan. Maybe he didn't hear. He did stay back for most of the fight, so maybe he didn't hear when Dean brought it all up. And I didn't _exactly_ say it was about Tristan, so maybe I still have a way out. _But why would you want a way out, Gilmore? You could be with Tristan because of this…_ But that doesn't mean that he wants me too. And why am I explaining myself to myself! I should know what I want, shouldn't I? _Ugh this is getting too confusing._ Well, at least he wasn't at the town meeting last night. At least I don't think he was there. I didn't see them. Wait, why would he be at a town meeting? He wouldn't. Phew. And why is he looking at me like that, with that amused smirk on his face. The cocky, arrogant, annoying, _don't forget wonderful and extremely cute,_ smirk.' Rory was unknowingly wringing her now very purple wrists and Tristan noticed.

"Holy shit, Ror! Why didn't you say he hurt you?!"

"Huh? Oh… You mean this," she realized, holding up her wrists. "Well, I kind of forgot. You know, going with the moment, all the adrenaline and anger. I didn't notice until you said something. It's not as bad as it looks…" she sighed. And it suddenly hit her where they were headed. "We can't go to my grandparents! Look at me! They'll ask what happened, and I don't want to talk about it with them! They won't understand! Tristan!"

"Well, where do you want to go, Ror? I can take you to Stars Hallow… But I bet Dean's there and I don't want you getting into another round with him."

"Yeah, and I don't want to face everyone, including mom. I just can't yet. But I do need an outfit for the concert seeing as I didn't pack for that, and I could really use some of Luke's coffee. You don't mind do you?"

'Anything for you.' "Whatever you say, Mary," Tristan smirked as Rory smiled at the nickname she once despised.

Rory flipped open her cell phone and called the only person she totally trusted and confided in at the moment. "Luke's."

"Hey Luke! It's Rory! I need a favor." His face lit up when he heard her voice, and then quickly noticed everyone around him, including her mother. He obviously couldn't talk to Rory out in the open.

"Hold on a sec, everyone's down here so I'm going to call you back upstairs. Just give me a minute to escape," Luke whispered not wanting Lorelai to figure out that he had her daughter on the phone. Luke hung up, refilled Lorelai's coffee and told Cesar to watch the diner while he was upstairs.

Her phone rang seconds later and Luke was eager to find out what she needed. He loved being the person she turned to, that she trusted him that much, even though he felt huge pangs of guilt whenever he saw Lorelai. "So whatcha need, kid?"

"Well, Dean showed up at Chilton and we had it out. And I really really really need some of your coffee."

"I am going to kill him! I should have told him to stay away this morning, instead of only saying you weren't home. I'm sorry, Ror. I could have prevented it."

"No Luke. He was going to come. He really thought I was talking about him last night." Tristan's ears perked up again hoping that he'd get some clues as to what happened last night.

"But you were talking about Tristan."

"I know. And he was right there when Dean and I had our Royal Rumble. And he's here right now, driving me to Stars Hallow."

Luke got the hint, not to ask her anything that would cause Tristan to overhear snippets of what had happened, not until she had the chance to explain it on her own terms. "Got it. And how are you going to avoid the whole town? You do realize where you are heading."

"Well, that's where you come in Luke. We're stopping at the house first, so can you make sure Mom and Babette are nowhere near the house? I can't deal with them. I forgot a few things, and I just want to make a quick stop in and out. And then we're going to come around back, and I'll come in the back door of the diner. I'm going to get a burger and fries. Do you want anything Tristan?" Luke couldn't hear what Tristan said but Rory ordered him the same. "And lots and lots of coffee please! I probably won't see you for a few days, so could you give me a can too? Please? You know I can't live without your coffee."

"Of course, Rory. But don't tell your mother!" He knew that was the wrong thing to say and reprimanded himself after letting it slip. "I'm sorry, Rory. It slipped. I wasn't thinking."

"No problem, Luke," she tried to say with a smile but it didn't reach her voice, and he could tell. "We'll see you soon. I'll call the diner again when I'm in the back. Thank you so much Luke. Love you!" Rory added as she closed the phone. It was the first time she had ever told Luke that she loved him, but it was the truth and she had no reason to deny it. He was like her father, in her eyes he was. Luke was deeply touched, and returned the feelings ten fold.

Tristan and Rory didn't say anything to each other the rest of the way to Stars Hallow, and when the got to her house, he just turned off the car and sat there as she ran inside hoping no one saw her. Tristan didn't know if he should go inside or not, but decided he wanted to see what she called home.

He knew she was going to go into her room to change, so he didn't dare go in there, not wanting to ruin what the little trust they had. He studied all the pictures on the mantle and wished his childhood had been so many happy moments. Every picture had Rory and Lorelai with huge smiles, obviously laughing at something or having a blast together. They looked like best friends, and if she couldn't confront her mom about whatever happened last night it must be something really big and he shouldn't pry. 'Yeah, that's right, Tristan. Let her come to you.'

Just then Rory walked out of her room wearing a blonde wig, dark jeans and a dark blue tee shirt, with sunglasses to match. She was clutching her uniform and another outfit, that he assumed would be for the concert later that night. Tristan couldn't help but smirk and the sight before him.

"I can't let anyone recognize me! Stop looking at me like that!" She squealed while grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the house. "We better get going before someone sees! And put these on!" Rory handed Tristan his baseball hat from the backseat and his aviators from the glove compartment. She directed him to Luke's and had him park in the back while she went inside for the food. "Take off your blazer, and put on a different shirt. You stick out like a sore thumb," she laughed while calling Luke and opening the delivery door in her get up.

"Luke's."

"Hey, I'm in the storage room. Be discreet please!"

"Alright, George. I'll be out back in a minute! Keep your pants on!" Rory couldn't stifle her laughter with Luke's fake attitude. It was too perfect.

Luke checked the order in the box before bringing it out to Rory. Two burgers and fries, four coffees to go, and a can to hold her over until she returns. Luke was acting like he was bringing something out to his delivery guy, and not even Lorelai noticed the charade. 'Wow, I'm a good actor. I'll keep that in mind for the future.'

When Luke walked into the storage room, he almost dropped the box when he buckled over laughing uncontrollably at the sight of Rory. "I look that bad?" She asked self-consciously while smoothing the wig that covered her head.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Its not that, it just reminded me of last summer when you guys did that skit at the talent show during the Summer Solstice Festival. You sung that song, by that girl group. And danced. That was the funniest thing I had ever seen, and well, that wig. HAHAHAHAHA!" Luke couldn't stop laughing and was wiping the tears from his eyes with his free hand.

"Well, I'm glad I could add some humor into your day. And I was Baby Spice, from the Spice Girls. We sang 'Wannabe'. We were going to do another song this year, but I don't know if I can if that is how you're going to react, Luke! Lane and mom will be so disappointed," she said with a pout very soon followed by a huge smile. "We were actually going to ask you to join us. And since you enjoy it so much, I'll be sure to let them know you're definitely in. And we won last year! So we couldn't have been THAT bad."

"Your competition was Kirk… Who can't beat Kirk?"

"I don't know, Sporty Spice." Before Luke could respond she grabbed the box and was out the door yelling over her shoulder, "I'll be sure to call you with the practice times! Thanks again, Luke!"

Luke was still laughing when he walked back out into the diner only to be faced with stares from all of his customers. He quickly realized what the circumstances were and barked at the crowd, "What?! I can't enjoy a good joke?" Luke scowled and kept on laughing once was in the confines of the kitchen.

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The kids ate their burgers in the car and decided to play 20 questions to get to know each other better. They each seemed like they were joking around, but both were listening intently to each other's answers, filing them away for another time. After a few questions they decided to get more serious.

"Who was your first kiss?" She asked him innocently.

"Louise. When I was eight. She wouldn't leave me alone, so I thought that would do it. I was right." He added with a smirk. "You?"

"Dean. In Doose's. I said thank you and ran away, stealing cornstarch." She laughed at how silly it sounded.

It was his turn. 'I know I shouldn't but I have to know.' "Have you ever been in love?" His voice was soft, like he was waiting to be reprimanded.

"No. That's why he broke up with me. Because I couldn't say it, and he thought I meant I was ready to, but nope. I never loved him." She sounded sad, like she wanted to love him but couldn't.

"Me neither. None of the girls I've been with have ever given me that feeling… None of them have given me butterflies or caused me to be speechless with just one look…" He trailed off, hoping that she would let it drop.

"How many girls have you been with?" It seemed like a simple question to Rory, but Tristan's shocked face told her otherwise.

"Why would you want to know that?" he scoffed, not wanting to answer.

"Its not your turn to ask the question yet. Its your turn to answer."

"Fine, but I need some clarification first. You mean what by 'been with'?" He didn't want to have to give her a higher number than necessary.

"Had sex with. Any type of sex. Just give me the damn ball park figure!"

"I don't know. Thirty." He tried to sound annoyed and nonchalant.

"WHAT?" she screeched. The pitch of her voice almost caused Tristan to swerve off the road. "You've had sex with at least **thirty** girls? Five, I was good with. Ten, that'd be okay too. Fifteen, that's getting pretty high. BUT DOUBLE THAT? How the hell am I supposed to compete with that, Tristan?" She clearly wasn't thinking and let the last part slip. 'Maybe he didn't hear me... Who am I kidding? Look how shocked he is. Of course he heard me. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.' "Oh and I've slept with no one, in case you didn't know."

"Compete with? What the fuck are you talking about Rory? Why would you be competing with those girls?" He was completely confused. But the look on her face told him all. "You've thought about having … with me?" He couldn't say 'sex'. Tristan DuGrey, the king of Chilton, the playboy of the school, the guy who could have any girl he wanted, couldn't say the word sex to the only girl that he wanted.

All Rory could do was look away, out the window, and take a few deep breaths. "Well, kind of. Not really. Just at some point, maybe. Not now. No, not now. Definitely not now. But sometime, there's a pretty good possibility." She spoke so soft that Tristan had to strain to hear.

Both of them thanked god that they were pulling into Tristan's driveway and wouldn't have to continue this conversation anymore. Since Rory packed more when she and Tristan stopped at her house, she now had two duffels filled with her clothes and everyday necessities, as well as her backpack full with all the books from her locker that she needed in order to study for her finals. It was the last week of school, and she had a lot of studying to do to remain at the top of the class. Tristan grabbed all three bags as well as his own and walked into his house. Rory was in a daze and hadn't noticed he left until he locked the car and set the alarm from the front steps of the house. This knocked Rory back into the present, and looked to find Tristan tilting his head as to invite her inside before he went inside himself. "Get going, Gilmore. You really don't want to be ruining this!" She said to herself while running to meet him inside.

Tristan was already up the grand staircase as she made her way through the door, and had to follow him up not knowing where to go. She decided to turn left at the top, thinking that she heard footsteps going that way. "Tristan?" He didn't answer. "Tristan? Where are you?" Still no answer. So Rory resorted to opening all the doors until she found him.

Tristan decided to take a shower to get his mind off what Rory had said in the car, knowing that she wasn't going to want to talk about it when she found him. He wanted to be the perfect person for her, and to do that he needed to clear his head. Like hers, his best thinking and relaxing place was the shower. Tristan quickly undressed and threw all of his clothes into the hamper, but was too flustered to check to see if the maid had restocked his towels. She hadn't.

Rory found his door thanks to the sound of the shower. She hoped it was his room, and not someone else's. Their bags on the floor made her believe this was in fact Tristan's room. Everything in the room screamed Tristan. The walls were dark blue and there were multiple band posters on the wall, including The Starting Line, Jack's Mannequin, Taking Back Sunday, Cartel, Motion City Soundtrack, Trapt, and Story of the Year. In the far left corner she spotted shelves that were covered with CDs that could beat out Lane's collection. The entire room was impeccably clean, something she didn't expect of Tristan. Behind his desk there were three floor to ceiling bookshelves that were filled with books, many of which Rory owned or had read and many that she was looking forward to read. She couldn't help but make a list of the ones she wanted to borrow. His closet was separated by type of clothing then sorted by color, something she found very amusing. His shoes were the same way. Sneakers separated from flip-flops and dress shoes. Her eyes landed on the last thing in his room. The bed. "Of course he has a king size bed. I would expect no less." With that Rory grabbed her backpack and jumped on the bed and tried to get comfortable while pulling out her history book.

"Damn it, Rosario! I told you this morning that I need more towels! Now I have to go find some myself," Tristan yelled walking into his room dripping wet and completely nude. Rory looked up to see him, definitely not expecting what she saw, and stared at his incredibly toned body. It was a good ten seconds before he detected she was on his bed staring at him and all his glory. She had never seen, one of those, before. At least not in person, so she couldn't tear her eyes away, and Tristan had unquestionably noticed. For the first time in his life, Tristan DuGrey blushed in front of a girl. She didn't notice though, she wasn't looking at his face.

But it was nothing compared to Rory's blush when he said, "Like what you see, Mary?"

With that, she closed her eyes and put a hand over them, only saying "Umm…." hoping that he would ignore what had just happened.

"We'll just have to even the score later." Tristan said as he walked up next to her and placed a soft kiss on her lips. He smirked, and left to find a towel. She just sat there stunned and finally let go of the breath she was holding ever since he walked into the room as she walked him saunter out. He loved that he had this affect on her.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Gilmore?" She asked herself with a sigh as she tried to get back to work.

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So whatcha think? Kinda crappy, right? Well, I need some suggestions as to what to change.. Please and thank you :D


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